Lord of the Flies Chapters 10 –11 – 12 “The Shell and the Glasses” “Castle Rock” “Cry of the Hunters”

Characters Ralph Piggy Sam’n’Eric Jack Roger The Lord of the Flies The naval officer

Key Events The boys react to Simon’s death Discussions about the fire and the beast Jack’s group steals Piggy’s glasses; Ralph’s group tries to get them back Piggy and the conch are destroyed Sam’n’Eric are forced to join Jack’s tribe Ralph hides from the hunters A naval officer appears to rescue the boys

Character Development Jack has become the nameless “Chief”—an embodiment of ideas, rather than a singular person. “Jack, identifiable by personality and red hair…” Ralph continues to regress: “Ralph tried indignantly to remember. There was something good about a fire. Something overwhelmingly good….‘Let the fire go then, for to-night.’”

Character Development Piggy continues to try to be rational and civilized, but unrealistic Sam’n’Eric represent all the lesser characters, who are caught between leaders and suffering: “Sam and Eric, locked in an embrace, were fighting each other.” Roger continues to act as a merciless enforcer Ralph, of Piggy’s death: “What have I done? I liked him….” What did he do?

Chapter Ten “…after all that had happened, Ralph remained unmistakably Ralph.” Ralph is unclear about his feelings during Simon’s attack; Piggy insists everyone was scared (as justification, but does he believe it?) Of Piggy during Simon’s attack: “You were outside. Outside the circle. You never really came in.” = “brains” were not involved

Chapter Ten “Four of us. We aren’t enough to keep the fire burning.” (both literally and figuratively) Sam’n’Eric deny their involvement in the attack—and then Ralph and Piggy do, too (shame). The rest deny what happened altogether, saying it was the beast “in disguise’ The “double function of the fire”: to be noticed by rescuers, and to give comfort

Chapter Eleven Ralph and Jack finally confront each other; “They were chest to chest, breathing fiercely, pushing and glaring.” Piggy sees the irony: “You’re acting like a crowd of kids.” What is Piggy’s death—and the way he dies—symbolic of?

Chapter Eleven “Which is better—to be a pack of painted [savages] like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?” “Which is better—to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?” “Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?” Exactly! … but which?

Chapter Twelve The boys have all but lost their original identities: “But really, thought Ralph, this was not Bill. This was a savage whose image refused to blend with that ancient picture of a boy in shorts and shirt.” Ralph destroys the Lord of the Flies, but thinks of the hunters: “They were savages it was true; but they were human, and the ambushing fears of the deep night were coming on.” Who/what does he fear?

Chapter Twelve Human in the womb? “At first light [Ralph] would crawl into the thicket…ensconce himself so deep so that only a crawler like himself could come through…There he would sit, and the search would pass him by…and he would be free.”

Motifs Civilization vs. Anarchy Ralph: “Supposing we go, looking like we used to, washed and hair brushed—after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t a game—” “They understood only too well the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought.” Ralph doesn’t recognize the naval officer at first Officer: “I should have thought that a pack of British boys…would have been able to put up a better show than that....” (Irony!)

Motifs Leadership Adults are still seen as wise rescuers: “What’s grown-ups goin’ to think?” Ralph is losing his grip on leadership on even loyal friends (but not Piggy!): “The twins were examining Ralph curiously, as though they were seeing him for the first time.” However, the twins end up warning him later on.

Motifs Leadership Jack is still not completely supported: “The painted group moved round Samneric nervously and unhandily.” “‘Who’s boss here?’ ‘I am,’ said Ralph proudly.”

Motifs The darkness within people Masks and disguises bring out the worst in the boys Pointless abuse and dictatorship (Jack): “He’s going to beat Wilfred….I don’t know [what for]. He didn’t say.” “Desperately, Ralph prayed that the beast would prefer littluns.” Taunting Piggy (as the beast)

Motifs The darkness within people “Now the painted group felt the otherness of Samneric, felt the power in their own hands. They fell the twins clumsily and excitedly.” “…Samneric lay looking up in quiet terror. Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority.” Of Jack, after Piggy’s death: “The hangman’s horror clung round him.”

Motifs The loss of innocence After all that happens, the boys are certainly not innocent of mankind’s essential nature (as according to Golding). BUT: Once a grown-up appears, they revert to a child-like state. Why? The boys have lost their innocent identities, and have become symbolic representations: “The boys…stood in a pool of their own shadow, diminshed to shaggy heads.” “Percival Wemys Madison sought in his head for an incantation that had faded clean away.”

Final Thoughts What is the “beast”? After the twins are attacked, Ralph yells at Jack: “You’re a beast and a swine and a bloody, bloody thief!” “‘Fun and games,’ said the officer….‘We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?’”